New York Giants quarterback Jaxson Dart took as much accountability as possible following his rough Sunday against the New Orleans Saints, which further impressed his head coach, Brian Daboll.
“He goes back to the things that he could have done better,” Daboll said on Monday. “I’ve got a tremendous amount of respect for the young man and how he’s handled really everything on the field, off the field. It’s no surprise that’s the type of guy that he is. He’s a pleasure to work with. I don’t want to sell him short, and I know what he’ll say, but I thought he did a lot of good things that gave us chances. We’ve got to take advantage of those chances.”
In his second career start, Dart completed 26 of 40 passes for 202 yards, two touchdowns to tight end Theo Johnson, two fourth-quarter interceptions, and a fumble that capped off a sloppy display by a Giants team that committed five turnovers in total.
“I gotta cut that s—t out,” Dart said. “I’m the leader of the offense, so any time those things happen, it falls back on the leaders. I take that responsibility and I’m going to continue to have conversations with the guys.”
The loss dropped Dart to 1-1 as the Giants’ franchise quarterback, a move made out of desperation by Daboll in a last-ditch effort to save his job after an 0-3 start. His 22-year-old savior has shown enough good things, particularly as a dual-threat option that Big Blue has lacked for decades, to suggest that there is something here.
For as much as the on-field product will be dissected, the budding leader in the locker room is getting a full vote of confidence from Daboll.
“I think they all respect Jaxson for his talents, one, and how he is,” Daboll said. “He’s a pretty humble guy. They see how he works. They know he’s a rookie. Again, there are going to be ups and downs. There’s no young quarterback I’d rather have to work with than Jaxson.”
